ETSU Director of Athletics Dr. Richard Sander announced on Thursday that Will Healy will be the school’s new Head Football Coach. An introductory press conference will be held Friday at 12:15 p.m. inside the Club Room at William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium.
“We are proud to announce Will Healy as our new leader of the Buccaneer football program,” said Sander. “As we embarked on this search, it became apparent how attractive this job was based on the amount of interest we received. We narrowed the field down quickly, and as we looked at the profile for what we were searching for in our next head coach, we wanted someone who was successful at the FCS level and had FBS experience. We also wanted someone who could navigate in the current environment of college football regarding the transfer portal and NIL. As we did our research and talked with a lot of people across the country, Will Healy’s name kept coming up. When we met with Coach Healy, we could feel his energy and it was clear he is a very passionate coach who builds strong connections and cares about his players. He has the desire to be the head coach at ETSU and the drive to bring championships to Johnson City.”
“It is my sincere pleasure to welcome Coach Healy and his family to the ETSU community,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. “Coach Healy has both the vision and experience to build an elite FCS football program. ETSU has a long tradition of community support, with one of the most active fan bases in the SoCon and at the mid-major level. Coach Healy’s culture-first philosophy is perfectly aligned with ETSU’s commitment to excellence on and off the field and cultivating the level of experience and engagement our fans expect.”
Healy, who will be the 21st head coach in program history, comes to Johnson City after spending the past two seasons as an Assistant Head Coach at Georgia State (2024) and UCF (2023). Healy also has experience as the Head Coach at Austin Peay (2016-2018) and Charlotte (2019-2022).
“I am excited to be named the head coach of ETSU football, and Emily and I can’t wait to hit the ground running,” said Healy. “It’s rare in our profession to get to work in a place like Johnson City that your family really wants to live, and even more special when that place aligns with the culture and goals you have as a coach. Everyone I met during the interview process made it abundantly clear, ETSU is hungry to do something great and I share that same vision. I feel the timing and opportunity are aligning, and we have an administration and fan base that is all pulling in the same direction. This is a place that wants and deserves to have a winning program, and that challenge/expectation excites me. Go Bucs!”
Prior to his two seasons as an Assistant Head Coach at the FBS level, the Chattanooga, Tenn., native engineered a remarkable turnaround at Austin Peay. In his second season as head coach in 2017, he led as the Governors to an 8-4 mark, an 8-1 record versus FCS opponents and a program-record seven Ohio Valley Conference wins—after Austin Peay had won only one football game in the previous four years combined.
In addition to being named OVC coach of the year in 2017, he received the Eddie Robinson Award by STATS as the top FCS coach in the country. His 2017 recruiting class was rated No. 1 in the country by 247Sports.
Healy took over at Charlotte in 2019, and in his first season, he guided the 49ers to the first winning record and postseason bowl invitation (the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo) in program history while producing the school’s first All-American (defensive end Alex Highsmith).
The following season, he led Charlotte to a win over Duke for the program’s first victory over a Power 5 opponent.
Healy’s coaching career began in 2009 in his hometown as the quarterbacks coach at Chattanooga. He spent seven years (2009-15) on the Mocs’ staff, switching to coach wide receivers in 2010 and also working as passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator. He produced consecutive recruiting classes rated the best in FCS football.
While with the Mocs, Healy helped develop quarterback Jacob Huesman into a three-time Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year and second-team FCS All-American and also worked with quarterback BJ Coleman, who eventually became a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2012 NFL Draft.
After originally attending the Air Force Academy in 2003, Healy transferred to Richmond, where he was the starting quarterback as a senior for the Spiders’ 2008 FCS national championship team.
Healy graduated from Richmond in 2008 with a degree in rhetoric and communication studies.
He and his wife Emily (Broyles) are parents of Eli and Wynn.